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Yesterday was two years since Ava passed away… 2 years! Time goes by so quickly and it’s a little tough because the memories fade, but the ache our hearts isn’t going away. I don’t think it ever will.

Last night when I put Sophy to bed I sang to her like I usually do. I’ve always loved singing my kids to sleep at night – especially when they were babies. I realized early on that hymns make great lullabies, they are often lilting and long – so I set out to memorize a few favorites and the kids would often be regaled by my singing them such hymns as “Great is thy faithfulness” or “Be thou my vision.” (One of my favourites). But I also would sing to them a little ditty that I learned from a children’s tape that we had growing up (yes, a cassette tape). I just tried to find it on the world-wide web for reference, but can’t somehow. The words go like this…

Jesus is coming
Coming for me
Like lightning, that flashes from the west to the east
In a moment
In a twinkling of an eye

The song is based on Matthew 24:27 when it talks about the 2nd coming of Christ and how He will return one day to earth…

For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

It’s something that all of us believers in Christ look forward too – the day that Jesus will come again to earth and call to Himself His own. It will also mark the end of this age and the beginning of the next… good heavy stuff.

But back to my lullabies… singing that song to Sophy last night reminded me that I used to sing Ava that little ditty quite often. My precious little Birdy – in the hospital, on the nights that I could tuck her in for the night. I would sing to her like I sang to her brothers and sisters when they were babies, but in my mind I was always singing it to her with the thought that Jesus might just come and get her in the here and now.

And then in the moments when Ava did die – and Jason prayed that sweet soul into heaven, the relief of knowing that Jesus had finally come and gotten her and taken her home and released her of all her suffering was like a presence right there right with us. I’ll never forget that sense of peace and release we were given. Her earthy journey was over and her heavenly one just begun. And I’m so thankful that’s where she is now – in heaven with Christ, praising and glorifying him and more alive than we could ever be here on earth.

Lately I’ve added another song to my nightly repertoire, “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman. We sang it at Ava’s funeral and for some reason it just struck me lately that it would also be a great lullaby and anyway, Sophie likes it. And I love the reminder that I have 10,000 things to be thankful for and that I can still bless the Lord with all my soul and that when I get to heaven I’ll have 10,000 years to sing His praises. Hallelujah!

And I’m also so grateful for the memory of singing my sweet little Ava to sleep.

It’s Easter! And I wanted to share a modern hymn, that so wonderfully contains the Easter story.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found;He is my light, my strength, my song;This cornerstone, this solid ground,Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.What heights of love, what depths of peace,When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!My comforter, my all in all—Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,Fullness of God in helpless babe!This gift of love and righteousness,Scorned by the ones He came to save.Till on that cross as Jesus died,The wrath of God was satisfied;For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,Light of the world by darkness slain;Then bursting forth in glorious day,Up from the grave He rose again!And as He stands in victory,Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;For I am His and He is mine—Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—This is the pow’r of Christ in me;From life’s first cry to final breath,Jesus commands my destiny.No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,Can ever pluck me from His hand;Till He returns or calls me home—Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

I’m currently memorizing it to add it to my repertoire of hymns that I sing to my children to get them to sleep. I’ve been doing this since Erik was born, it’s perfect in so many ways. Usually hymns have soothing melodies, they have lots of verses and great solid theology so it’s a great way to introduce hymns to my kids as we don’t typically sing them in church anymore.

So back to this hymn, it was written by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend, but it’s sung by Kristyn Getty. Kristyn and Keith are at the head of the modern hymn movement and they are both very talented… you can read more about them here.

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Welcome to our blog!

Thanks for stopping by. If you start reading you will see that we are mourning the loss of our of our sweet baby girl, Ava Samantha Grace, who died August 15, 2013. Our little 'Birdy' was born Dec 12, 2012 with a very serious congenital heart defect - hypo-plastic left heart - as well as Turner's syndrome. She had her first open heart surgery at two days old and died in hospital waiting for a heart transplant.

As well, we are learning to live with our daughter Sarah's with type 1 diabetes which is more challenging than I ever thought it would be.

We believe that all of our children are precious gifts from God and have been so thankful for them.
God is good and through all this we are focusing on our blessings.
We're so glad you joined us.